Wimbledon fever has just about calmed down here in the UK, but there’s no reason why a handsome hound can’t still request some new balls (no sniggering please, I just heard Mum say to Dad that the ‘special operation’ is in the diary for early August)!

Anyhow, as you know, I have my humans very well trained. So they didn’t just get me a few new balls, they got…well…THESE:

AMAZING! AMAZING! AMAZING!

Also brilliant this spring/summer has been Mum’s discovery of a new beach at Sandwich Bay after Dad got fined £75 for taking me for a dip on Dover seafront (where they’ve changed the rules on canine companions)…ouch! Anyway, forget Dover Beach. It’s so yesterday. Sandwich Bay is THE place to be. Check me out:

Step aside David Hasselhoff…

Could be treasure. Could be a dead fish. The same thing you say?

In other news, more than the aforementioned body parts are due to get the chop. No really! Mum has also scheduled in a haircut for this Friday apparently. Here’s why:

Forget photo bombing, fluff bombing is all the rage!

I’m pretty sure she is the one in dire need of a makeover, but given that she will have to feed me the meat off a whole chicken (or a block of cheese) to get me to sit still on the grooming table, maybe I’ll put up with it for a bit 🙂

What a Summer it has been! Once again, I’ve been so busy being stopped by admirers in the street (note from Hector’s Mum: more like pleading with anyone and everyone to pay you some attention) that I haven’t had much time to blog…so here’s a recap on the highlights of Summer 2015 for you.

1. My 2nd birthday!

Well, I’m pretty sure that I’m now 2 years old since Mum and Dad made me an awesome card (see below). That said, whenever strangers ask Mum how old I am, she always says ‘oh, he’s still quite young, only about 18 months, which is why he’s a bit silly and over the top.’ Charming.

2. The arrival of Mr Frog.

Now, anyone who knows me knows how much I love a good squeaky toy. This summer, a truly marvellous one arrived. Green – check. Annoyingly loud – check. Small enough to fit quite far in my mouth so no one can take it off me – check. Not yet been thrown over the neighbour’s fence – check. Love him. LOVE HIM!

Yeah…you can try to get the frog. But you will fail. Every time.

3. The car and the fence.

Being a border collie (sort of), I do love a good stalk. I’m not talking plants. I’m talking crouching down and hunting cars. Oh yeah. I stalk cars from a mile away! Mum and Dad have tried EVERYTHING they can to stop me doing it, because it’s apparently a ‘bad habit’ (but then I always hear them talking about how people should have hobbies…hypocrites). Needless to say, I totally disregard anything that comes out of their mouths on the matter.

So when we were at Granny and Grandad’s over the summer and a big Land Rover drove by the field very quickly, I decided I’d jump the five foot fence into the lane and hunt it down. I managed to run a few circles around the car before Mum made it over the fence (rather slowly I might add) and flagged the driver down. Spoil sport.

4. A new friend.

When Mum started her latest job over the summer, she discovered that one of her new colleagues had the (mis)fortune to have just acquired a puppy…a Bordoodle named Roxie. She lives up in Scotland, lucky thing! Does she remind you of anyone?

5. The husband swap.

Finally, one of my favourite moments of the summer was when a lady who was cuddling me in the pet shop asked if she could swap me for her husband. Apparently, I’d be much nicer to sit with on the sofa of an evening – but just as hairy and warm 🙂

Wow. It’s been ages! I hope you’re all well out there and have been living every day to the full. I certainly have 🙂

Let’s play!!! What do you mean you just want to sit down for five minutes?

I’ll post a review of my Summer of Fun shortly (yeah…a little late I know, but I promise you’ll love it) but before that, let’s talk about my amazing Christmas. Note to self: ‘Hector’s Amazing Christmas’ is a great idea for a movie…or maybe a book…or maybe both. Yeah, both. Anyway, Dad was lucky enough to have a whole month off work (sort of) over the festive period. That meant we could play ‘hang off the bottom of your trousers’ EVERY SINGLE DAY.

It’s also helped pass the time a bit because Mum has had a knee operation and can’t currently take me out by herself (apparently she could take out a dog that didn’t act like it was pulling a cart every time it was on the lead, whatever that means). At one point I did think she was just being lazy, but then I tested the theory by barking right in her face for about 10 minutes straight and poking my nose in my harness just in case she hadn’t quite got the message. It seems she really does have a poorly knee. But it is getting better now and we’ve been out for ice cream and all sorts:

Look how well mannered I can be…erm…I mean, I am!

Yes, that is a rather large yellow pole. They were putting up Christmas lights at the cafe. And yes, Mum does have her eyes closed…there’s always one!

For Christmas, I got loads of treats and a soft toy turkey (now dead). Uncle Matthew bought me a cool Snowman toy too (now dead). Then Mum snapped up a stuffed penguin in the New Year sale for me (now dead). Honestly though, the best bit has been playing with the big cardboard tubes out of the middle of the wrapping paper rolls (also now dead). How much fun can one dog have?!!

In other news, I’ve been inspired by all the Strictly Come Dancing fever over Christmas (Mum and Dad left it on for me to watch while they went to the gym). What do you make of this footwork, Darcy? A nice efface methinks:

Just look at those pointed toes. 10/10 surely?

Apart from that, it’s all been rather quiet really. Just three or four walks a day, playing with my friends in the park at sun down, pinching tea towels off the counter, opening the post. You know, dog stuff.